Apparatus for folding gauze for surgical dressings, &amp;c.



L. H. MILLER.

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING GAUZE FOR SURGICAL DRESSINGS, 6L0.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5 9L8- Patented June 4, 1918.

llllllllIIIIIIILIIIII HLIIILIHLIHLIIILIIILIII ILIIILIHL Wilhesses: Qygi-7' LULU H. MILLER, or BROOKLYN, roan.

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING GAUZE FOR SURGICAL DRESSINGS, @c.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June a, 1918..

Application filed April 6, 1918. Serial No. 226,918.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LULU H. Mnnnn, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, countyof Kings, city an State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Folding Gauze for S urg 1- calDressings, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention, while applicable to var1ous other uses, is designed moreespeclally to afford simple, cheap, but effective means whereby gauzefor surgical dressmgs may be conveniently and quickl unwound from thecommercial bolt and fo ded evenly into superposed layers which may becut into sultable lengths with accuracy and wlthout waste, ashereinafter more fully set forth.

The invention consists in the specific combination and arrangement ofparts described and claimed,distinctive features being the means forprescribing'the length of old; the feed of the gauze from the bolt tothe folding table; the adjustment of the length of fold, and the holdingof the folds taut, etc.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a plan of a gauzeman1pulating and cutting table or board embodymg the emential featuresof my invention,-the

gauze being broken away in part for clear-- ness of illustration;

Fig. 2, is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, is a sectional detail showing an elevation of one extremity ofone of the pm racks;

Fig. 4, is a sectional detail showing one extremity of the spreaderframe.

The commercial bolt of gauze is flat, and either of full width or foldeddouble around a flat card board. when the full width bolt is to bemanipulated the rotatable spindle a, is dispensed with and the fullwidth bolt laid on the table if, a suitable distance behind or to theright of the guide bar 9, which is mounted on the under side of thecross bar 0, supported b the end standards a, s, the lower ends 0 whichare provided with screw or equivalent clamps s, s. The uide bar 9, ispreferably a roller the ends 0 wh ch restin sockets c (one of which isshown in Fig. 4) on the under side of the cross bar 0. The rollerfacilitates the feeding of the gauze to and between the pin racks 1",and lessens frictional resistance to such feed. I

"when not desired for immediate use.

5 L from the rac When the bolt is of the half width type, the card boardcore is removed, the spindle a, inserted through the bolt in lieuthereof, and the spindle a, mounted upon and'between bifurcated ends ofthe standards a, a, which are' clamped to the edges of the table, so asto be readily removed therefrom When the folded bolt is thus mounted itis opened up to full width before being first fed to and over the guide9, after which it will unfold itself as drawn'over-said guide 9.

The pinracks r, r, are strips of wood or other suitable material of alength equal to the width of the table It, and are formed at eachextremity with a screw clamp 1", or equivalent, by means of which theymay be readily adjusted along the length of the table t, the edges ofwhich are formed with,

coincident scales is, (see Fig. 1) so that the alinement of the racks r,transversely across the table may be readily and accurately attained,thedistance apart of the two racks r, being of course regulated accordingto the lengths of folds desired.

The pins project upward vertically bars 7', and are sufliciently closeand numerous to insure a firm hold on the bights of the gauze fabric f,as folded over from one rack and set of pins to the other. This actionis illustrated in exaggerated form in Fig. 2, but illustrates theprinciple and function involved. The bights b, in the fabric 7", areformed carefully and gaged by the width of the rack bars 1', so thataccurate alinement is readily attained. This insures uniformity of widthof dressing strips when the fabric is out between the rack bars, whichcutting operation is performed when a suitable number of layers of thefabric 7, are superposed one upon the other. I

The cutting may be efl'ected by any known or suitable means, as anelectrically driven cutter, shears, or the like as may be found mostconvenient or expedient,and the folded fabric may be marked for thepurpose of cutting by means of a ruler extended transversely across thefolds and gaged in position by means of the aforesaid scales is, k, ator adjacent to the edges of the table 16.

The numerous pins p, hold the fabric taut and even; and the accuracy anduniformity of size of the bights ,b, insure uniformity of width of thecut goods and eliminates waste of material.

The' whole arrangement is very simple and inexpensive, and well adaptedto the requirements of Red Cross work and necessities. The device is inextensive use in many 5 Red Cross auxiliaries; and it is the applicantspurpose to dedicate it to such use.

What I claim as m invention and desire to secure by Letters atent is,

In gauze folding apparatus of the charac- 10 ter designated, thecombination of a supporting table formed with coincident scales onopposite sides thereof, a guide roller mounted upon and above saidtable, and transverse pin racks adjustably mounted upon said table, forthe purpose described.

LULUv H. MILLER.

